diff --git a/src/app/qgsdecorationgrid.cpp b/src/app/qgsdecorationgrid.cpp
index d0d62356505a..8f0887e5f083 100644
--- a/src/app/qgsdecorationgrid.cpp
+++ b/src/app/qgsdecorationgrid.cpp
@@ -111,9 +111,19 @@ void QgsDecorationGrid::projectRead()
                             "/AnnotationPosition", 0 );
   mGridAnnotationDirection = ( GridAnnotationDirection ) QgsProject::instance()->readNumEntry( mNameConfig,
                              "/AnnotationDirection", 0 );
-  mGridAnnotationFont.fromString( QgsProject::instance()->readEntry( mNameConfig, "/AnnotationFont", "" ) );
+  QString fontStr = QgsProject::instance()->readEntry( mNameConfig, "/AnnotationFont", "" );
+  if ( fontStr != "" )
+  {
+    mGridAnnotationFont.fromString( fontStr );
+  }
+  else
+  {
+    mGridAnnotationFont = QFont();
+    // TODO fix font scaling problem - put a slightly large font for now
+    mGridAnnotationFont.setPointSize( 16 );
+  }
   mAnnotationFrameDistance = QgsProject::instance()->readDoubleEntry( mNameConfig, "/AnnotationFrameDistance", 0 );
-  mGridAnnotationPrecision = QgsProject::instance()->readNumEntry( mNameConfig, "/AnnotationPrecision", 3 );
+  mGridAnnotationPrecision = QgsProject::instance()->readNumEntry( mNameConfig, "/AnnotationPrecision", 0 );
 
   // read symbol info from xml
   QDomDocument doc;
@@ -715,7 +725,9 @@ double QgsDecorationGrid::fontAscentMillimeters( const QFont& font ) const
 
 double QgsDecorationGrid::pixelFontSize( double pointSize ) const
 {
-  return ( pointSize * 0.3527 );
+  // return ( pointSize * 0.3527 );
+  // TODO fix font scaling problem - this seems to help, but text seems still a bit too small (about 5/6)
+  return pointSize;
 }
 
 QFont QgsDecorationGrid::scaledFontPixelSize( const QFont& font ) const
diff --git a/src/app/qgsdecorationgriddialog.cpp b/src/app/qgsdecorationgriddialog.cpp
index d9c34c3149cd..343d1e61ef2f 100644
--- a/src/app/qgsdecorationgriddialog.cpp
+++ b/src/app/qgsdecorationgriddialog.cpp
@@ -284,6 +284,10 @@ void QgsDecorationGridDialog::on_mPbtnUpdateFromLayer_clicked()
     mIntervalYSpinBox->setValue( values[1] );
     mOffsetXSpinBox->setValue( values[2] );
     mOffsetYSpinBox->setValue( values[3] );
+    if ( values[0] >= 1 )
+      mCoordinatePrecisionSpinBox->setValue( 0 );
+    else
+      mCoordinatePrecisionSpinBox->setValue( 3 );
   }
 }
 
@@ -313,6 +317,13 @@ void QgsDecorationGridDialog::updateInterval( bool force )
       mIntervalYSpinBox->setValue( values[1] );
       mOffsetXSpinBox->setValue( values[2] );
       mOffsetYSpinBox->setValue( values[3] );
+      // also update coord. precision
+      // if interval >= 1, set precision=0 because we have a rounded value
+      // else set it to previous default of 3
+      if ( values[0] >= 1 )
+        mCoordinatePrecisionSpinBox->setValue( 0 );
+      else
+        mCoordinatePrecisionSpinBox->setValue( 3 );
     }
   }
 }